Virtually Dead ‘zombie apocalypse’ lurches into Hackney

Immersed in horror: zombies take over. Photograph: Noma Labs

A new ‘zombie-apocalypse’ experience opens in Hackney tomorrow, allowing revellers to experience the thrills and spills of hunting the undead.

Virtually Dead combines virtual reality with live action sequences to give an authentic experience of fighting zombies in the streets of east London.

The premise is based around the outbreak of a sinister virus, with Londoners being invited to join ‘Colonel Hanz’ at the ‘Cultek Military and Training Facility’ somewhere in east London.

Set up by Noma Labs in collaboration with production company Bearded Kitten, the show utilises virtual reality headsets.

James Cadwallader of Noma Labs said: “Our aim was to create an experience that would push the boundaries.

“People have been leaving Virtually Dead screaming, completely shocked and in awe, so it’s mission complete.”

According to its website, the “production contains extremely graphic scenes” and is “not for the fainthearted”.

Customers are invited to “enter a world that spans over half a kilometre and prepare for an hour long experience.”

Barney Sutton, director and producer at Bearded Kitten said: “We have managed to squeeze close to 900 shows into a three week period, which is the equivalent of over two years on the West End.”

Since last month, 10,000 time slots have been booked and the event is currently sold out.

Zombie experiences are not new in London, with a plethora of the “post-apocalyptic” scenarios now being offered by several different companies.

However Virtually Dead is the first to utilise virtual reality.